Trump plans to ramp up action against the Houthis once sworn in, sources say

US President-elect Donald Trump is planning to intensify actions against the Houthis once he is inaugurated as president on January 20, according to two sources familiar with the matter, News.az reports citing The Jerusalem Post.

Trump and other officials in the incoming administration are interested in increasing the activity against the Houthis, including airstrikes.

“President Trump likely will add the Houthis back on the [State Department’s] Foreign Terrorists Organizations list, after President Joe Biden’s wrongheaded decision to remove them, as one of his first acts of president in 2021,” Mark Dubowitz, the CEO of the Foundation for Defense of Democracies, said.

Elliott Abrams, who served as the US Special Representative for Iran from 2020 to 2021, said, “Trump will not stand for having US Navy ships attacked every day by the Houthis using Iranian missiles… He will hit the Houthis harder, and he will threaten Iran that if a missile [that] Iran supplied kills an American, Iran will get hit directly.”

Over the last month, the Biden administration has decided to change its strategy in Yemen, increasing the number of airstrikes against Houthi targets. This is because the administration has not managed to stop the Houthis from launching attacks against Israel and against ships in the Red Sea, which has caused trade ships to avoid vital shipping routes, threatening global trade.

News.Az